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Let's talk Air...

MGOLD86

MGOLD86

What's up everyone? I wanted to talk to some of you growers that have some inexpensive DIY type air stone setups. After talking with SC about the benefit of leaving a tap water filled bucket out for a few days to get rid of the chlorine he mentioned that a air stone would help the process along. I was wondering a few things. First, aside from the chlorine, does it rid it from any other impurities? Does it do anything to the ph? Would the introduction of an air pump produce and added benefit aside from a faster process? Can you tell when it is good, or is the rule of thumb about 48hrs without air and ??? With it?

I want to set up 2 buckets with tap water with an air stone in each. I will probably have another two in the garage just waiting until needing switched out.

Oh, one more thing, can it ever sit too long?

I know it is a handful of questions, but if you only know part, then chime in with opinions, stories, tips or tricks.

Thanks
Matt
 
Imo rain water, tap water, distilled water they all have about the same results when growing. Just like most ferts. There is very little difference. Rain water would prob be the best option unless you live in an area with lots of smog! You can always boil water or use a good water filter as well if ur worried about impurites
 
megahot said:
Imo rain water, tap water, distilled water they all have about the same results when growing. Just like most ferts. There is very little difference. Rain water would prob be the best option unless you live in an area with lots of smog! You can always boil water or use a good water filter as well if ur worried about impurites
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Really it depends on how you collect it. Rain water works fine for outdoor growing for obvious reasons... that's how all plants that aren't inside get the majority of their water. Of course if you try to collect rain water, the stagnant pool that you collect is a nice way to collect bugs and other nasties that you don't want. Tap water is fine most of the time if you have a well. If you get your water pumped in, they add all sorts of things to it to prevent contamination and such. The biggest thing you have to worry about is the chlorine that they add. That can build up in soil and kill your plant... it's almost like watering with a low concentration of bleach. From what I hear heating it or letting it sit will get rid of a good amount of the chlorine. I use well water unless I'm growing at school so I've never had a use for air stones. I'd imagine it serves to just stir the water, which would allow the chlorine to evaporate faster. It would also dissolve very low quantities of gasses in your water, which won't do a whole lot, but it might SLIGHTLY lower the pH. I'm talking a couple tenths of a point at most. Carbonic acid is formed when you dissolve CO2 in water, but I'd imagine it's harmless to your plants and might even be beneficial.
 
I have a water softener I wonder if this would be good or bad too water my pepper plants with? also good idea on the water stone's I'm guessing he does it for algae build up and other things but im no scientist but you could experiment.
 
I use a 35 gal container with a circulating loop to help aerate the water when watering my plants. My water always sits for a minimum of 24 hours prior to each watering at room temp. It's also nice to mix up my ferts with as well.

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I always let water sit in a bucket for at least a day before using. An air stone will probably add some disolved oxygen, but I've read that mixing it or agitating the surface is best. I suppose an air stone would agitate the surface to some degree. Also, it's best to use room temp water. Seedlings don't like ice cold water.

Once plants are outside, I use rain water as much as possible. Sometimes I use water straight from the tap with no ill effects. It's crazy how plants respond to a good thunder shower though. Instant growth spurt.
 
just leave the water in a pail for 24 hours and it will just disappear. i have a hot tub that i am constantly putting chlorine tablets into and 3 days later i have to recharge it. and that is 7,000 gallons of water.
i don't use an airstone unless i am brewing with molasses.
 
Thanks for all the comments. I appreciate it. I know that in most cases, tap water isn't that big of an issue, however just do a quick google search for "Camp Lejeune Water" and the first few hits include the words toxic, contaminated, land forgotten...lol. So I am trying to do my best to get rid of as much crap as I can.

I just didn't know if the airstone provided any benefit aside from agitation and oxygenation of the water. I will probably just stick with a bucket or two in my grow tent for 24-48 hours.
 
Just got a 300 gallon fish tank and use the water when you do your weekly water changes. Can't buy better water for your plants and having a nice tank in your home is priceless!
 
muskymojo said:
Once plants are outside, I use rain water as much as possible. Sometimes I use water straight from the tap with no ill effects. It's crazy how plants respond to a good thunder shower though. Instant growth spurt.
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My groundskeeper buddy says that's because the rainwater carries the opposite ion (can't remember whether he said positive or negative) as ground environment, and so the water and plants 'attract'. He said tap water has the same charge, so there's a repelling effect. This is a lousy explanation, but he's not here to square me away! However I have shared your observation on many occasions. Nothing greens up a lawn like a little rain. Much more so than hose water. I'll see if I can get some more cogent info.
 
Those who say that tap water is perfectly fine for all applications have good tap water. I am starting off with a ppm of 400+. If I kind of water my plants salts will build up quick and adversely affect my plants. I have to flood irrigate for best results. I wish I had the time and or ambition to let my water sit for a little while and possible do some filtering. For Hydro I use RO. If I get lazy and top off with tap my ph gets very unstable.

I am in a constant battle with salts and alkilinity when it comes to my dirt garden. Even in buckets.

The point is you learn what you can and can't do in your area.

I also get the feeling that aerating anything liquid reduces the probability of getting bad stuff growing in it.... Unless you are making hot sauce or wine.
 
Honestly, I am now strictly working with soil/soilless flats (no more plugs). That means, I really only need to water like once every 3 or 4 days. I have 3 flats and it took about 2.5 gallons tonight. I took two or three gallon jugs and filled them up, poured them into something that would fit into the microwave and let em go for 2 mins until they hit about 80 degrees. I watered the flats and tomorrow I will fill the bucket back up and use it again on Monday or tuesday. Pretty easy...
 
I am sure that it would. I eventually settled on just letting my water sit for 24/48 before watering with it. Pretty cheap and seems to do the trick.
 
somethingwicked said:
Total noob question but, would an aquarium dechlorinator not serve the intended purpose here? Alot quicker and in some cases cheaper too.
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I've thought about that too. Most of them also remove heavy metals and who knows what else. I wonder if it would strip minerals and such from soil and leave you with a deficiency of some kind. I really have no idea, but letting water sit in a bucket for a day is about as easy as it gets. It also allows water to warm up a bit before watering.
 
It looks like you have it covered but here’s what I know/think. For in soil plant I’ve never had a problem with city tap water, even straight from the tap. My water is very hard (lots of gypsum), even after I installed a water softener, I still haven’t had issues. My oldest chile plant in a pot is 3 years old and growing strong, and the pot is all crusty from the hard water build up.

I have an aquarium and from what I’ve read and have been told by the experts, is you need to adjutant the water to remove the chlorine, either with a water pump or air stone for 24 hrs. The water pump can be submerged and just ripples on the top of the water for it to work i.e. the stream doesn’t need to break the surface. But know what I’ve done is went to the hardware store and bout a whole house carbon filter, and just fill the tank up and adjust water temp as needed. I think it cost me like $27, and it removes more than just the chlorine, but will not oxygenate the water, which both fish and plants like but don’t really need, the fish have their own air stones in the tank.

Now to answer your question,
First, aside from the chlorine, does it rid it from any other impurities? Not to my knowledge.

Does it do anything to the ph? Not to my knowledge.

Would the introduction of an air pump produce and added benefit aside from a faster process? Oxygenate the water.

Can you tell when it is good, or is the rule of thumb about 48hrs without air and ??? With it? Rule of thumb 24 hours.


All in all, the cheapest and easiest is to let it sit in the bucket for 48 hours or longer.
 
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